Developer still has eye on Central, Camelback

Reid Butler has a vision to transform his property on the southwestern corner of Central Avenue and Camelback Road into a pedestrian-friendly hub connected to the light-rail line.

He's just waiting for the economy to brighten and for neighbors to accept his proposed development, as yet unnamed.

He sees a four-star hotel and parking garage, condos, eateries, art galleries and boutiques. But to do it he had to persuade city leaders and nearby neighbors to let him demolish historic homes.

City leaders in July rejected his idea, voting instead to sell six properties - four homes and two vacant lots - on Mariposa Street to buyers committed to restoring them. The city purchased the properties in 2004 while acquiring land for the light-rail line.

Despite the setback, his vision for this corner hasn't dimmed, he says. It just got tougher to create.

"When the cycle turns back up in Arizona by 2013-14, the very best locations will be at the front end of the recovery," Butler said.

Since 1984, Butler has been a partner or principal in the development of more than 25,000 apartments and condominiums in more than 85 projects around Arizona.

A familiar face at City Hall, Butler, 53, is an urban-infill developer and informed resident. He is involved in numerous neighborhood and business organizations. And he has a stake in properties across the city, including 2 acres at Central Avenue and Camelback Road adjacent to the Uptown light-rail station.

Central and Camelback is a gateway to the heart of historic Phoenix, an area rich with businesses, public and private schools, arts institutions and residential districts blighted by boarded-up buildings and vacant lots.

In 2008, Butler proposed 400-foot-tall towers on the corner. Neighbors objected. The market faltered, and Butler withdrew his proposal.

The site, like others in the city, is home to campaign signs instead of cranes and earthmovers.

Some neighbors who disagreed with Butler's vision point to his idle projects and past development proposals.

Kim Kasper first met Butler in 1999 when she and some neighbors opposed another of his apartment projects.

Kasper moved to the Roosevelt Historic District in central Phoenix, and she again ran into Butler in 2002 when he restored eight historic apartment buildings.

"He's got wonderful powers of persuasion," Kasper said. "He's great at performing. He studies neighborhoods. He studies situations. He knows the right people to approach to rally their support."

Last fall, Butler asked the city to delay selling properties it acquired before building the Uptown light-rail station.

Then, he proposed the city sell its properties to developers. Butler argued against expanding the existing surface parking lots on Camelback Road. He offered to share a multistory parking structure with the city so it could offer 300 park-and-ride spots in the shade.

And the city said no. It had a federal agreement to sell the properties in the Pierson Place Historic District for single-family homes and faced a deadline to sell the properties.

In the spring, after buyers submitted their offers on the properties, Butler spoke with the city about removing the historic-preservation zoning on Mariposa Street homes. Without the zoning, the homes immediately south of the city's park-and-ride lot could be demolished to make way for multifamily housing or commercial development.

Mayor Phil Gordon, who lives in the Pierson Place Historic District,several blocks south of the Mariposa Street properties and Uptown station, alerted neighborhood leaders. Residents who attended the meeting said Gordon didn't mention Butler's name specifically but told them a grass-roots effort was needed to defeat a "developer's" proposal.

The neighbors feared not just the height of Butler's proposed 400-foot-tall hotel and condo but that removing the zoning would jeopardize the entire historic district's status. Some claimed changing district boundaries, which the city has done in the past, would nullify a method used since 1986 to preserve more than 5,000 homes in 35 districts.

Residents from across the city attended meetings and signed petitions opposing Butler's proposals to delay the sale of the properties and remove historic-preservation zoning.